Knowledge Accumulation - Assessment and Grading Policies
In their second week of student teaching, students were asked to reconsider their assessment and grading strategies. After expressing their approaches, we used a gradebook simulator to explore possible strengths and weaknesses of their approaches.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I plan to assess my students through both formal and informal assessment. I would like to give them quick feedback in both cases. Informal assessment is more of a less stress environment, where I could make sure that they are keeping up on work and gauge their understanding. I would do this through in-class assignments, homework, labs, quizzes and activities. Formal assessment would give them a time to formally study and perhaps grasp concepts. It would be nice to see statistic-wise as well, how they did and what they did and what they didn't understand. I feel that both formal and informal are necessary and useful in different ways.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am planning to grade my student's performance in the same manner as my CT. Both she and I prefer that the grading system isn't changed because it is department-wide grading. Tests, Quizzes, Homeworks, and Labs all get a grade, usually 10-100 and their final average is just what they earned/total points possible. When looking back at assignments and grades, sometimes some are scaled for whatever reason.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
Some ways in which I plan to assess student learning is through formative and summative design. Class usually begins with asking questions and allowing students to formulate their own answers with any prior knowledge they may have. Also, I walk around the room while students are completing class work to check on their progresses and basic understanding of the topic at hand. Summatively, I plan to give extra credit to classwork that is given when the main topic's work is done for the day. (ie: a crossword, word search, or critical thinking question). (The system for this is 3 points when receive a check plus, 2 points for a check, and one check for a check minus, no points awarded for a minus.) Also, I will give quizzes and possibly some tests. However, I still need to discuss this with my CT as I would like to give students a choice as to what they have to do to earn a great "end of unit" grade. For example, students could complete a paper, 2D project, 3D project or create a power point project to present to the class, etc.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
Classwork: Check system. Check plus (All work completed), Check (More than half done), Check minus (Half done, maybe a little less but the effort is shown) Minus (No work done).
5 pieces of classwork equals one quiz grade.
Quiz: Out of 10 points.
Test: Out of 100 points. (Does not necessarily need to be a "test". Could be a larger project or paper.)
*I still need to think about homework and class participation grading.
I have chosen this system because I feel like it will help the students in boosting their grades. It doesn't take a lot of effort to complete classwork, and if they choose to do so, within 5 days (for example) they will have a perfect quiz grade. Also, I've chosen to allow students to receive a "test" grade on projects other than formal summative assessments. I've done this because I feel that every student should get the chance to shine in different ways; sometimes when regular multiple choice/short essay tests are given this is not permitted.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I have quickly realized that if the students are not being assessed, they find no reason to be doing the work. Most assessment done in my classes to this point have been informal. I am trying to find ways to get one on one time with the students. This enables me to see multiple things. The first is what problems individual students are having. If there is a particular part or idea of a concept that a student isn't grasping I can than give them some individualized time to pin point the problem and help correct it. While this is going on, the rest of the class will be working diligently on the assignment at hand. The other thing this allows me to see is if there is one particular problem that the whole class may be suffering from. If I find a problem like that, I can grasp the classes attention and clarify the misconception. It will also enable me to make corrections to my lesson plan so that, in the future, the misconception will never take root in the first place.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am using a straight points based system. Quizzes will be worth 20, homeworks will be worth 10, and tests will be worth 100. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I do not know how many total points there are to be had for the class. The reason I don't know that is because I will be following the flow of the class. When I feel that they are ready for the quiz, I can give it to them. If time runs short though, I will be forced to give them a quiz and move on to the next topic. The number of assignments given for each type of assignment will define their importance, as opposed to the weighted system which will define the importance of the assignments as a whole. I do not like this because the total points possible for one particular type of assignment may not end up reflecting it's true worth when the grade is calculated. For example, If I assigned one homework assignment all year and homeworks were worth 50% of the student's grade, it would suddenly become the most important assignment of the semester. Through the use of a straight points based system, I can personally define how much each type of assignment will eventually count towards their final grade by assigning more or less of that particular type of assignment. I intend to assign a decent amount of homework. Ideally, in my minds eye, the most points will be achieved through tests followed by homework and the least number of points coming through quizzes. If they do their homework, good quiz grades will follow so, essentially, quiz grades should not need to be worth more overall points then homeworks. Good homeworks lead to good quizzes which leads to good tests, which will lead to a good grade.
I plan on assessing and grading my students through informal and formal assessments. Everyday I have a “Science Starter” for students to complete when they first come into class. This is an informal assessment that lets me asses the prior knowledge of my students on a particular topic or allows me to see if my students understand the concepts that were taught the previous day. Another informal assessment I will be using is giving out homework. This will reinforce the concepts I have taught in class and will let me know if students are understanding everything or if they are struggling and need to be retaught it.
The formal assessments I plan on giving will be through lab activities, lab write-ups, and quizzes. For several labs I am planning, students will be expected to write and 3-4 paragraph lab report with their data. The other labs will require the students to fill out a worksheet that will asses their knowledge of the lab. My big assessment I have planned will be a “Tic Tac Toe.” The students will be given a sheet with nine boxes all with different assignments to assess their knowledge of the unit. The students will be required to pick three of the assignments from the nine boxes in a row to complete the tic tac toe. This will be a good assessment because it will allow the students to choose the assignments they want to do to test their understanding of the unit and it addresses the “multiple intelligences” because each assignment is different and applies to different learning styles. This way there will be assignments that will fit each students learning style.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I began to assess my student in two major ways and that is by having them share the work they do with the class and also by having a small quiz. During the second week of teaching I had my students take a small quiz to see if they knew the vocabulary words that they were required to know. I feel though that the most effective way of assessing my students is to have them share the work they do. I work in an inclusive classroom with a special education teacher and she has shown me many different ways to effectively do this and not allow students to zone out and not pay attention. By students sharing in groups what they came up with and then going group to group asking them to give a new point, answer, or idea forces the students to pay attention to what they all have to say. It's great informal assessment.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I have decided to use mainly checklists or rubrics to grade things they do in class and for homework. I'm not really sure how much things are going to count yet.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I plan on assessing student learning through both formative and summative assessments. My formative assessments will include observing student behaviors and reactions, and using a variety of probing questions to determine whether or not students have understood the "big ideas" of my lessons. Some of my summative assessments will include graded assignments such as quizzes, tests, essays, homework, and a lab report. Through these two types of assessment, I hope to be able to track student progress throughout the quarter and grade the students in a fair manner. The formative assessments will allow me to gage student understading, and if there are any problems, I can review the material (using a different approach) before the students complete summative assessments.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I will be using my CT's current grading plan since the student's are already familiar with it. This will prevent any "surprises" for the students when they get their quarterly grade because they are familiar with how it is calculated. Also, this plan is very well organized and meets all of my needs. It is as follows...
Quizzes, Tests, and Projects = 35%
quizzes count once, tests count twice, and projects count three times
Lab Report & Notebook grade = 25%
There will be one lab report this quarter and one notebook check
Daily work = 40%
includes homework and graded in class assignments
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
To assess student learning, I plan to use both formative and summative assessment. Using formative assessment is a tool that lets me know whether or not the students are understanding what I am teaching. I ask them questions during each lesson (Can you give an example? Why do you think this?) and each lesson is followed up with an activity (worksheet/practice sheet) which allows me to move around the class and assess individual work. For example, next week I will be reviewing matter and atoms. After instruction, one activity I plan to use for formative assessment is to have the students draw a model for two different atoms (they will choose two from five or six I give to them) As they are drawing the models, I will be able to quickly and easily assess whether or not they understand subatomic particles and their location within an atom. Depending on the assessment, I will know that they are ready to move on to something else or I need to clarify/give more instruction. Using formative assessment will help me determine the students' readiness for a test/quiz on the material. Summative assessment on the material will include drawing a model of an atom (one that I choose) because this is something they have practiced and it's familiar to them.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am choosing to grade the students' performance in the same manner as my CT. I feel that they are familiar and comfortable with her grading policies. Changing the policy at the beginning of the third quarter may cause confusion. Classwork and labs are worth thirty percent, homework and quizzes are worth twenty percent each, and projects/tests are worth thrity percent each.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
At this point, I am continually assessing students through formative assessments. I begin every class by reviewing the homework with the students and giving them a chance to ask any questions from me or clear up any confusions.
Also, throughout the class, as I'm teaching in front of the class, I remind myself to stop after each major point and ask the students if they are "with me" so far. If not, then I rewind and I try to explain it in a different way.
The reason for my approach is that I really feel that there is no point for me to keep going and trying to cover the material if there's someone who is not understanding it and isn't able to keep up with either my pace or my style of explaining. Therefore, continuous formative assessment is my major form of assessing their learning at the moment.
There have been some summative assessments though. They have been assessed on in-class group work activities (i.e. jigsaw activity) and their lab activities. Also, once we finish our current chapter, they will be receiving a quiz and a chapter test.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am mostly following my CT-s grading system. This means that students' homework is worth 10 points, in-class activities are worth 30 points, quizzes are worth 100 points and tests are worth 200 points each.
There is also a research paper that they will be working on later on this semester and that's worth 400 points.
I have done a few alterations to in-class activities though. I explained to the class that when they're working in groups (i.e. jigsaw activity), EACH MEMBER has to be responsible for a part of their group work. I make it very clear what responsibilities there are to a particular assignment (usually there are 3-5 components) and then I place the students into groups of 3-5 and make sure that they each understand what their individual contribution to the assignment is (I let them decide who does what within their groups).
The reason for my approach is that I feel this creates clarity and a purpose for the students to participate in these assignments. When everyone feels that they have a part to do and that they are held responsible for it (I assign group grades), they really seem to work better and be more motivated in participating.
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
So far i have assessed my students by asking them questions about the topics at hand. I do this at the end of the period. I have been asking questions about the topics that I taught them during that class. Then the next class I like to start off with questions about the information from the past classes. In listening to their responses gives me a good idea on what the students understand well and what they are have trouble with. I know that it has only been one week so far but this method seems to be working we so far. As the quarter moves on I will have to move on to more ideas like having them hand in more assignments so I cam read all the students answers so I can get a true feeling on what they are learning.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am grading them in a few ways first all the grades are done by a point system. Every assignment is given a point amount that the students can earn. The students will have quizzes before we move on to the next topic so I can see what they understand. Every homework is also given a grade. This is more of a five points that it's done or not. They will also be lab reports that will be given point values. At the end of each Unit there will be a test that covers all the material that was given. In my opinion this is the most far way of grading the students. With the point system the difficulty of the assignment is measured by the amount of points it is worth.
Knowledge Accumulation - Assessment and Grading Policies
In their second week of student teaching, students were asked to reconsider their assessment and grading strategies. After expressing their approaches, we used a gradebook simulator to explore possible strengths and weaknesses of their approaches.Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I plan to assess my students through both formal and informal assessment. I would like to give them quick feedback in both cases. Informal assessment is more of a less stress environment, where I could make sure that they are keeping up on work and gauge their understanding. I would do this through in-class assignments, homework, labs, quizzes and activities. Formal assessment would give them a time to formally study and perhaps grasp concepts. It would be nice to see statistic-wise as well, how they did and what they did and what they didn't understand. I feel that both formal and informal are necessary and useful in different ways.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am planning to grade my student's performance in the same manner as my CT. Both she and I prefer that the grading system isn't changed because it is department-wide grading. Tests, Quizzes, Homeworks, and Labs all get a grade, usually 10-100 and their final average is just what they earned/total points possible. When looking back at assignments and grades, sometimes some are scaled for whatever reason.
Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I have quickly realized that if the students are not being assessed, they find no reason to be doing the work. Most assessment done in my classes to this point have been informal. I am trying to find ways to get one on one time with the students. This enables me to see multiple things. The first is what problems individual students are having. If there is a particular part or idea of a concept that a student isn't grasping I can than give them some individualized time to pin point the problem and help correct it. While this is going on, the rest of the class will be working diligently on the assignment at hand. The other thing this allows me to see is if there is one particular problem that the whole class may be suffering from. If I find a problem like that, I can grasp the classes attention and clarify the misconception. It will also enable me to make corrections to my lesson plan so that, in the future, the misconception will never take root in the first place.Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am using a straight points based system. Quizzes will be worth 20, homeworks will be worth 10, and tests will be worth 100. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I do not know how many total points there are to be had for the class. The reason I don't know that is because I will be following the flow of the class. When I feel that they are ready for the quiz, I can give it to them. If time runs short though, I will be forced to give them a quiz and move on to the next topic. The number of assignments given for each type of assignment will define their importance, as opposed to the weighted system which will define the importance of the assignments as a whole. I do not like this because the total points possible for one particular type of assignment may not end up reflecting it's true worth when the grade is calculated. For example, If I assigned one homework assignment all year and homeworks were worth 50% of the student's grade, it would suddenly become the most important assignment of the semester. Through the use of a straight points based system, I can personally define how much each type of assignment will eventually count towards their final grade by assigning more or less of that particular type of assignment. I intend to assign a decent amount of homework. Ideally, in my minds eye, the most points will be achieved through tests followed by homework and the least number of points coming through quizzes. If they do their homework, good quiz grades will follow so, essentially, quiz grades should not need to be worth more overall points then homeworks. Good homeworks lead to good quizzes which leads to good tests, which will lead to a good grade.The formal assessments I plan on giving will be through lab activities, lab write-ups, and quizzes. For several labs I am planning, students will be expected to write and 3-4 paragraph lab report with their data. The other labs will require the students to fill out a worksheet that will asses their knowledge of the lab. My big assessment I have planned will be a “Tic Tac Toe.” The students will be given a sheet with nine boxes all with different assignments to assess their knowledge of the unit. The students will be required to pick three of the assignments from the nine boxes in a row to complete the tic tac toe. This will be a good assessment because it will allow the students to choose the assignments they want to do to test their understanding of the unit and it addresses the “multiple intelligences” because each assignment is different and applies to different learning styles. This way there will be assignments that will fit each students learning style.
Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I began to assess my student in two major ways and that is by having them share the work they do with the class and also by having a small quiz. During the second week of teaching I had my students take a small quiz to see if they knew the vocabulary words that they were required to know. I feel though that the most effective way of assessing my students is to have them share the work they do. I work in an inclusive classroom with a special education teacher and she has shown me many different ways to effectively do this and not allow students to zone out and not pay attention. By students sharing in groups what they came up with and then going group to group asking them to give a new point, answer, or idea forces the students to pay attention to what they all have to say. It's great informal assessment.Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I have decided to use mainly checklists or rubrics to grade things they do in class and for homework. I'm not really sure how much things are going to count yet.Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I plan on assessing student learning through both formative and summative assessments. My formative assessments will include observing student behaviors and reactions, and using a variety of probing questions to determine whether or not students have understood the "big ideas" of my lessons. Some of my summative assessments will include graded assignments such as quizzes, tests, essays, homework, and a lab report. Through these two types of assessment, I hope to be able to track student progress throughout the quarter and grade the students in a fair manner. The formative assessments will allow me to gage student understading, and if there are any problems, I can review the material (using a different approach) before the students complete summative assessments.Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I will be using my CT's current grading plan since the student's are already familiar with it. This will prevent any "surprises" for the students when they get their quarterly grade because they are familiar with how it is calculated. Also, this plan is very well organized and meets all of my needs. It is as follows...Quizzes, Tests, and Projects = 35%
quizzes count once, tests count twice, and projects count three times
Lab Report & Notebook grade = 25%
There will be one lab report this quarter and one notebook check
Daily work = 40%
includes homework and graded in class assignments
Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
To assess student learning, I plan to use both formative and summative assessment. Using formative assessment is a tool that lets me know whether or not the students are understanding what I am teaching. I ask them questions during each lesson (Can you give an example? Why do you think this?) and each lesson is followed up with an activity (worksheet/practice sheet) which allows me to move around the class and assess individual work. For example, next week I will be reviewing matter and atoms. After instruction, one activity I plan to use for formative assessment is to have the students draw a model for two different atoms (they will choose two from five or six I give to them) As they are drawing the models, I will be able to quickly and easily assess whether or not they understand subatomic particles and their location within an atom. Depending on the assessment, I will know that they are ready to move on to something else or I need to clarify/give more instruction. Using formative assessment will help me determine the students' readiness for a test/quiz on the material. Summative assessment on the material will include drawing a model of an atom (one that I choose) because this is something they have practiced and it's familiar to them.Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am choosing to grade the students' performance in the same manner as my CT. I feel that they are familiar and comfortable with her grading policies. Changing the policy at the beginning of the third quarter may cause confusion. Classwork and labs are worth thirty percent, homework and quizzes are worth twenty percent each, and projects/tests are worth thrity percent each.Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
At this point, I am continually assessing students through formative assessments. I begin every class by reviewing the homework with the students and giving them a chance to ask any questions from me or clear up any confusions.
Also, throughout the class, as I'm teaching in front of the class, I remind myself to stop after each major point and ask the students if they are "with me" so far. If not, then I rewind and I try to explain it in a different way.
The reason for my approach is that I really feel that there is no point for me to keep going and trying to cover the material if there's someone who is not understanding it and isn't able to keep up with either my pace or my style of explaining. Therefore, continuous formative assessment is my major form of assessing their learning at the moment.
There have been some summative assessments though. They have been assessed on in-class group work activities (i.e. jigsaw activity) and their lab activities. Also, once we finish our current chapter, they will be receiving a quiz and a chapter test.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am mostly following my CT-s grading system. This means that students' homework is worth 10 points, in-class activities are worth 30 points, quizzes are worth 100 points and tests are worth 200 points each.
There is also a research paper that they will be working on later on this semester and that's worth 400 points.
I have done a few alterations to in-class activities though. I explained to the class that when they're working in groups (i.e. jigsaw activity), EACH MEMBER has to be responsible for a part of their group work. I make it very clear what responsibilities there are to a particular assignment (usually there are 3-5 components) and then I place the students into groups of 3-5 and make sure that they each understand what their individual contribution to the assignment is (I let them decide who does what within their groups).
The reason for my approach is that I feel this creates clarity and a purpose for the students to participate in these assignments. When everyone feels that they have a part to do and that they are held responsible for it (I assign group grades), they really seem to work better and be more motivated in participating.
Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
So far i have assessed my students by asking them questions about the topics at hand. I do this at the end of the period. I have been asking questions about the topics that I taught them during that class. Then the next class I like to start off with questions about the information from the past classes. In listening to their responses gives me a good idea on what the students understand well and what they are have trouble with. I know that it has only been one week so far but this method seems to be working we so far. As the quarter moves on I will have to move on to more ideas like having them hand in more assignments so I cam read all the students answers so I can get a true feeling on what they are learning.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am grading them in a few ways first all the grades are done by a point system. Every assignment is given a point amount that the students can earn. The students will have quizzes before we move on to the next topic so I can see what they understand. Every homework is also given a grade. This is more of a five points that it's done or not. They will also be lab reports that will be given point values. At the end of each Unit there will be a test that covers all the material that was given. In my opinion this is the most far way of grading the students. With the point system the difficulty of the assignment is measured by the amount of points it is worth.